Intimacy that breaks free from set patterns and conventions is fantastic, creative, and unpredictable—that’s what makes it so appealing, but also quite complex and challenging. In the(AN)OTHER INTIMACYworkshops, we want to embark on this adventure! What’s there to experience? How do I come up with ideas? How do I discover what my deepest needs and longings are? And how do I put them into practice?
TheSENSORY EXPLORATIONScourse is entirely dedicated to the sensuality of our bodies. We draw inspiration from the concept of Beginner’s Mind—also known as Shoshin in Zen Buddhism—which refers to an inner attitude of openness, curiosity, and the soothing absence of preconceptions or judgments. In this attitude of not knowing and not being familiar with, we rediscover our senses together, as if we were experiencing the fabulous sensory abilities of our bodies for the very first time.
Seeing, Hearing, Smelling, Touching, Tasting. Five modes guide us through the course, suggesting a progression of approach in this order—for we can see one another from a great distance, yet taste only in unparalleled immediacy. While we seek to unlock the unique creative, intimate, and emotional potential of each sense, how they ultimately touch and move us also depends on who we are.
And so, in our shared explorations—in which we seek to separate, deprive, combine, and fuse our sensory experiences—we are not only seeking new impulses and materials for our playful creativity in our interactions. We are also seeking to learn more about ourselves and our relationship with our bodies, about other people, and about our interactions and relationships with one another.
Learn more about(AN)OTHER INTIMACY
The(AN)OTHER INTIMACYworkshops aim to give participants an idea of what a playful and alternative “sex-positive” space might look like, how we can create it together, and how we can navigate it. The focus here lies well beyond a normative understanding of intimacy and sexuality that equates sex with nudity, genital touching, and any form of physical penetration. We prefer to focus on the playful, imaginative, performative, and experimental aspects to touch upon a wide variety of what human bodies and minds are capable of.
We work with tools such as Bodysomatics, the Beginner’s Mind, role-playing, and BDSM-inspired practices, thereby creating diverse opportunities to develop spontaneity and playfulness, to dare to discover what is interesting and desired and what is definitely unwanted, to set boundaries, communicate them, and respect them, but also to invite consensual play and help shape scenes. In this process, playful experimentation becomes both a strategy for discovering new ways of intimate interaction and its primary tool. After two days in which we get to know (or rediscover) our playful selves and learn to navigate them, we form a trusting community of experimenters. On Sunday, this community will come together in a PlayArragement—sometimes more structured, sometimes less, yet always carefully designed—to test and celebrate ourselves and our new discoveries in a freer setting.
SCHEDULE
Fri, Dec 8, 2023 - 5:00 PM–11:00 PM
Sat, Dec 9, 2023 - 11:00 AM–10:00 PM
Sun, Dec 10, 2023 - 11:00 AM–8:00 PM
Please note that the end time for this event may be slightly delayed.
LANGUAGES
German, English
HOSTED BY
Beata & Rebecca
COST
Registration fee per person
CHF 77,-
This event is being held under special terms. We also want to make it as inclusive as possible.
For this reason, there is no set price for the workshop in addition to the registration fee. However, we would like to point out that a realistic price for such a workshop—if one wishes to make a living from it (as we certainly try to do with luhmen d’arc)—is closer to about CHF 550 per person.
Additional contributions—taking your own financial situation into account—are therefore very welcome. Payment options—cash or Twint—are available on site.
Please also read all further info below, too.
FURTHER INFORMATION
NOTES ON THE EVENT
The goals of our events are collaborative learning within the group, supporting shared processes, and personal development. Couples and all other types of partnerships or group dynamics are welcome, but you should be aware and open to the fact that the courses are not designed as partnership experiences and that we address each person as an individual. For example: To involve all participants equally, we usually work with random partner combinations during the exercises. This means that both same-sex and opposite-sex combinations will occur. Participants should generally be open to working with every person and every body. Exceptions can be discussed on a case-by-case basis.
Gender identity, sexual orientation, age, or membership in marginalized groups such as BBIPoC, migrants, refugees, LGBTQIA*, people with disabilities, etc., are not criteria for registration or participant selection.
We expect you to act with care, be communicative, prioritize consent, and be mindful, and we encourage you to respect your own boundaries and take personal responsibility.
Hate speech will not be tolerated. Please bring "Candy Speech" with you.
We reserve the right to ask participants to leave the workshop if their behavior is hurtful or problematic, and we reserve the right to do so without explanation—though we will likely try to explain it. Workshop fees would then be refunded in full. Any further claims are excluded.
We do our best to accommodate different needs, but our resources are limited. Please contact us if you have any questions.
You can read more about this topic here.
CANCELLATION POLICY
Cancellations are free of charge up to eight weeks before the start of the course, up to four weeks before the start of the course a cancellation fee of 20% of the course fee is due, up to two weeks before the start of the course a cancellation fee of 50% is due. Later cancellations and refunds of participant fees are not possible. However, participants can find substitute participants who will take the booked places. In case of cancellation by the organizer, the course fee will be refunded in full. Further claims are excluded.